Acid Cloud. Varinian anemones use concentrated acid to incapacitate and digest their prey. Whenever an anemone suffers a critical hit, or when a creature cuts its way out of the anemone’s stomach, the space within the 25-feet is polluted with acid. Creatures who end their turn within this range must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution save or take 3 (1d6) points of acid damage.

Water Breathing. The deep tiger anemone can breathe only underwater.

Actions

Multiattack. The anemone makes three tentacle attacks.

Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: 15 ft., one target. Hit: 34 (4d12 + 8) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage and gained the poisoned condition on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained.

Acidic Shards (Recharges 3–6). A varinian deep tiger anemone can fire a barb of crystallized bile at a single target within 60 feet. This crystal begins to dissolve immediately upon exposure to water. The shard deals piercing damage and coats the target’s wound with potent acid. The target takes 21 (6d6) points of acid on a failed DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or half as much on a success. The damage continues on the following round regardless if the save was successful or not, with the target taking a further 10 (3d6) points of acid damage, and 3 (1d6) more the round after that.

Reactions

Digest. If at the end of its turn the anemone has a creature grappled it may swallow the creature whole if it is Large or smaller. It may swallow any number of grappled creatures with this reaction. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the anemone, and it takes 28 (8d6) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the anemone’s turns. If the anemone takes 29 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the anemone must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the anemone. This also triggers its acid cloud ability. If the anemone dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.

About

Colorful tentacles writhe across this marine creature like long petals on an immense flower.

Vermin of the Deep. The largest anemones in the ocean are capable predators despite their plodding movement. They lie in fields of other, usually smaller, anemones and among brightly colored coral societies. Deep tiger anemones feed local scavengers by attacking large prey or schools of fish, scattering uneaten remains to their neighbors.